The Dandelion or common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant. Generally, the flowers are edible and are known to have antioxidant properties by Native Americans and traditional Chinese medicine.
Photo # K02_8713abw3.
(c) Kelly Shipp.
I've been fortunate to occasionally watch this White-tailed doe teach her two fawns lessons of life, what to eat, what not to eat and much more. Today, I watched them each give mom special affection. These are the moments we long to experience in nature, and I'm thankful I was present to capture this moment. It's extremely important that we protect wildlife and especially wildlife habitat, not only for our generation, but for all those that follow us.
Wild white-tailed deer, central Arkansas.
Photo # K02_9306c.
(c) Kelly Shipp
It's interesting when leaves keep hanging on even after others have moved on. Life teaches us that it's full of seasons, but there's nothing wrong with standing-out and doing your own thing, in your own time.
Photo # K01_2241-45stkbw.
(c) Kelly Shipp
The Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis, is a common, social gull about the size of a crow. It does have interesting features, including white-grey wings with black wing tips, a yellow bill with a ring around it, a pale-yellowish eye and a slender wingspan around 45 inches.
They are masters of their wings in that they perform aerobatic maneuvers and hovering when hunting for their food. Breeding adults have a white head, while non-breeding adults have some tan streaking on the head or neck (as does the one in this photograph). Two-year olds and younger have progressively more brown streaking and spots.
This bird is an opportunistic omnivore and typically migrates south in the winter.
Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge.
(c) Kelly Shipp
There's much to see in this photograph of this backlit waterfall. As I often include in my waterfall photography, you see how the light dances on the water at the top of the photograph, almost perfectly recording it as an acoustic wave.
Hope you enjoy.
Woolly Hollow State Park, Arkansas.
Photo # KS1_8944bw.
(c) Kelly Shipp.
"Cotton Gin Office"
This is another from my series on this Cotton Gin.
Important: I did get approval from the property owner to photograph this property.
This photo shows the front of the office building. Notice how surprising the front door has retained its structure. I almost suggest that the ghosts are still trying to cash their checks. I left the exposure long during several frames and found the grasses moving although there wasn't any wind.
A brief history of Dick Hunt and the cotton gin:
In the 1930's, Heber Springs was the largest town in Cleburne County, with a population of 1,400 residents. A nearby Post Oak school was a two-room school with two teachers. The average school year might be six months since children were often needed on the farm. In these days, receiving an 8th grade education was considered educated by Cleburne County standards.
This cotton gin was built in the 1930's by Dick Hunt. Dick lost his father when he was 11 years old, which soon left him to take responsibility to help his mother with six children. Some say this pushed him to become a great leader, one who would eventually be one of the most successful businessmen in Cleburne County. He married in the early 1920's and eventually had five sons and three daughters. He and his wife farmed through the late 1920's, then as the depression continued, he pursued other venues. He tried a "rolling store" (horse-drawn wagon), then later a truck. He was also known for carrying mail by horseback and operated several passenger buses. He built three cotton gins and other various drilling businesses.
Dick bought this cotton gin in Texas and had it shipped/moved to Heber Springs. He and his sons worked the Gin. Horse-drawn wagons carried cotton to the Gin. Dick Hunt had the only cotton gin in the northeast section of Cleburne County. Sometimes wagons were lined up the length of a football field waiting for their cotton to be ginned. Dick Hunt also had the largest mercantile store in Cleburne County. While some farmers waited for their cotton, they would buy a 'soda pop' and candy from Mr. Hunt's store. You could buy a hamburger and coke for thirty cents.
In 1949, the Arkansas State Legislature passed a law to consolidate the small one and two-room schools. In the fall of 1949, students from Post Oak were transferred to West Side Public School. This was the first time these students had an opportunity to ride a school bus. In the early 1960's, the Greers Ferry Dam and Lake was completed, covering the land which cotton had thrived, consequently slowing cotton production to a halt.
Heber Springs, Arkansas.
Photo # IMG_1627-41_hdrMonoc.
(c) Kelly Shipp
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